- Date
- December 26, 1999, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Gualala, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N45886Luscombe 8A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991226045039A
- Case key
- 48416
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot's failure to attain and maintain an adequate airspeed, which resulted in a stall/mush and a collision with the ground.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot lost control of his airplane during the transition between the takeoff roll and the initial climb from the uncontrolled airport. The airport manager, who witnessed the accident, reported that the airplane lifted off the runway and appeared to stall. The airplane rolled left, impacted terrain, and cartwheeled. The student had not received written flight instructor authorization to operate from the airport, and the student's last 90-day logbook endorsement had expired 3 months earlier.
Factual narrative
On December 26, 1999, about 1330 hours Pacific standard time, a Luscombe 8A, N45886, owned and operated by the pilot, descended back to the ground during the takeoff initial climb from the Ocean Ridge Airport, Gualala, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed during the personal flight that was being performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane was substantially damaged upon impacting terrain on the airport. Neither the student pilot nor passenger was injured. The cross-country flight was originating at the time of the accident as a flight to Sonoma, California.
The manager of the uncontrolled airport witnessed the accident. He reported that the airplane lifted off from runway 13, and thereafter it appeared to stall. The airplane rolled left, impacted terrain, and cartwheeled.
The pilot had previously soloed from the Sonoma Skypark Airport. Copies of records provided by the pilot indicated that on June 22, 1999, his student pilot certificate was endorsed by a flight instructor authorizing solo flight in the Luscombe 8A. The student did not provide any logbook evidence indicating he had been authorized to solo from the Ocean Ridge Airport.
The pilot's student certificate did not bear an endorsement for solo cross-country flight. The student's last 90-day logbook endorsement authorizing solo flight was dated June 22, 1999.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N45886
- Reported as
- Luscombe 8A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2413
- Airframe hours
- 3,000
- Engine
- Continental C90-12F, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John E. Caldwell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 1999 · 36 hours before
- Departed
- Q69
- Destination
- OQ9 · Sonoma, CA
- Airport
- Q69 · Gualala, runway 13, 2,500 × 50 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 78
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 255 total · 137 in this make and model · 78 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 142 °F, dew point 109 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- STS, 38 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N45886 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.